Applications of Long and Short Strokes with Jazz Brushes In the first installment of this two-part post on jazz brushes I explained how to produce long and short strokes with lateral motions, and I promised that today I would introduce ways to use this technique musically and creatively. Here I am to keep my word and share with […]
A More Modern Approach to Comping Hi there, this is a simple but super effective way of organizing voicings to get access to quick, solid voice-leading and to achieve a more modern approach to comping. This ‘sound’ has been popularized by Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea, among many others, and has […]
Becoming Familiar with Lateral Short and Long Strokes with Jazz Brushes Back in September I wrote a post titled An Introduction to Brushes, where I examined how to produce long legato sounds using circular motions, an essential part of jazz brushes technique. In this post I will describe another important area of brush playing: staccato sounds. The […]
As a developing musician, improving your time and rhythm is one of the most important technical aspects to prioritize, regardless of what instrument you play. After all, it is thanks to time that we can make sense of music, and if we didn’t organize it in some fashion (rhythm), all we would hear would be […]
(Original saxophone picture courtesy of Elisabeth D’Orcy) One of the most common refrains we hear regarding jazz is that the most important thing is to have your own sound. This is pretty much considered the holy grail of jazz playing. With it come the keys to the kingdom. Without it we are condemned to craftman-ship […]
The role of the bass in the jazz ensemble is to provide harmony. We do this through our choices of root notes and motion between chords. As a melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic instrument there are a lot of ways we can direct the ensemble and comp (accompany/compliment) for the soloist. Here are some exercises I […]
Lessons Learned Playing Bass On Tour in Japan Growing up in Jersey (cue the Sopranos theme) and living in NYC, I’ve had my fair share of great pasta cooked by Italians. You could imagine how surprised I was, when the best cooked pasta dish I had ever eaten, was prepared by a Japanese chef in Chōshi, […]
I love brushes. Brushes are more than a tool with which one plays the drums; they are an instrument in their own right. Brushes are used in different music styles, but their most extended applications are found in jazz. Most people outside the world of jazz identify brushes with ballads and mellow or folksy tunes, […]
There are so many obstacles we confront as students of music. In jazz it’s expected to have a deep understanding of harmony, be able to play all tempos, be fluent in various styles, have a large repertoire, etc. With so much to learn, practice, and incorporate into our playing it’s typical for students to feel […]